Boys soccer comes away with thrilling win in overtime against Culver City

On Friday, January 19, the turf field bleachers were full of spectators cheering on Samo boys soccer as they faced Culver City High School. After a long and grueling match, Samo defeated Culver in a 2-1 win. Culver was the league champion last season and their only loss was against Samo on the Viking’s home turf. The Samo team came ready for a battle, but confident they could win.For the first part of the game, the ball moved back and forth quickly across the field. Primarily, Samo was looking more dominant and set up chances to score early. Samo succeeded in regaining possession from Culver before Culver could become a threat to score. However, 20 minutes in Culver drove down the left wing and received a corner kick. The ball bounced in the box amidst a jumble of players, and one Culver forward lobbed it into the net. With this momentum-changing goal, Samo was behind 1-0.Samo stayed strong after the goal and kept the ball in Culver’s half. After several close scoring opportunities, Samo could taste putting a point on the board. With just ten minutes to go in the first half, forward Sean Flood (’19) beat a player one on one on the left wing, and skillfully shot the in the right side of the net; the score was now tied 1-1. Nerves were high from the beginning of the game, but pressure mounted even further once the game got tied up. Goalkeeper Nate Comay (’19) attests to the emotions that were going through players as the score equalized.“The entire team felt a little anxious. This was one of our most important games of the season, and once they scored we put everything into trying to tie it up. We got a huge boost once we finally scored, ” Comay said. As soon as the second half began, Samo looked more confident on the field now that they saw they could compete on a high level. Both teams were eager to score early and establish a lead, but no one delivered. From the beginning of the second half, it looked as if Culver was beginning to control the match, but Samo settled in and continued to create chances. With time running out, the intensity picked up as both teams wanted to end the game in regulation time. However, the two sides’ relentless defense kept the game 1-1, and into overtime.Samo had already played eighty minutes of hard soccer, but they were not ready to walk away without a win. In just the first period of overtime, center midfielder Owen Fitzsimmons (’19) received a ball on the left side of the field. Fitzsimmons spun off of his defender and hit the ball mid-bounce into the upper part of the goal. Since the game was in “golden goal,” the matchup ended with Samo’s 2-1 win. Comay expressed his excitement with the win, while also acknowledging areas the team needs to improve on.“We earned a big victory. Every position continuously battled and ran up and down the field to help out. Nonetheless, we still have a lot of work to do, including staying compact in the middle of the field and switching the point of attack,” Comay said. Samo boys soccer will celebrate this hard-earned win and use the momentum for their game  next Wednesday against El Segundo High School.